EDISON, NJ – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s 2013-14 men’s and women’s basketball broadcast schedule will feature 47 nationally televised games on the ESPN networks, including 37 contests during the regular season and 10 more in the 2014 MAAC Championships.

The schedule features some of the MAAC’s premiere rivalry matchups, and culminates with 10 televised games in the MAAC Basketball Championships at Springfield, MA, March 6-10. The MAAC Women’s Championship Game will be televised at 2 p.m. on ESPNU on March 10, and the Men’s Championship Game will be televised later that night, on either ESPN or ESPN2, at 7 p.m.

“We’re excited to present the 2013-14 MAAC TV schedule. Our partnership with ESPN continues to grow and evolve, and this year we’ll have a record number of games on their networks,” said Commissioner Richard J. Ensor, Esq. “Some of our top rivalry games are included in the schedule, and we’re also thrilled that we’ll have the highest number of women’s games televised. This schedule gives MAAC basketball great exposure, and it’s tremendous for fans and alumni of member institutions.“

Throughout the season, Thursday nights will feature a men’s-women’s doubleheader, while Friday nights will feature men’s doubleheaders, all to be aired on one of the ESPN Networks.

Among the featured regular season matchups is the Jan. 31 contest when defending MAAC champion Iona hosts Manhattan. Manhattan, the pick to win the 2014 MAAC Championship in the Coaches’ Preseason Poll, advanced to last year’s championship game before falling to Iona, 60-57. Iona, which looks to extend its consecutive NCAA Tournament streak to three, was the No. 2 choice in the Coaches’ Preseason Poll.

Also aired on Jan. 31 will be Rider at Saint Peter’s. The two matchups on Jan. 31 feature four Metropolitan Area New York-New Jersey teams, and will help the local area gird for Super Bowl XLVIII, which will be played at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ on Feb. 2.

The two newest members of the MAAC, Monmouth and Quinnipiac, will tipoff the 2013-14 TV schedule, when Rider travels to Monmouth in a renewal of their cross-state rivalry on ESPN3. These two New Jersey schools are separated by approximately 40 miles. The local rivalries continue the next evening when Quinnipiac hosts Fairfield in a men’s basketball contest, also on ESPN3. Quinnipiac and Fairfield are separated by approximately 31 miles.

The first women’s basketball telecast will also be on Dec. 6, as the first game of the doubleheader at Quinnipiac. The Bobcats, who are coming off their best season in program history with a 30-3 mark, the Northeast Conference title, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, host defending MAAC champions Marist, which has won eight consecutive league titles and nine of the last 10.

The “Battle of the Bridge” will be featured on Feb. 14 when Canisius plays at Niagara in the teams’ second meeting of the year, as part of ESPN’s “Rivalry Week.” Other “Rivalry Week” games including Quinnipiac at Fairfield on Feb. 13 on ESPNU and Siena at Marist on Feb. 14.

Another in-state rivalry will be renewed when Saint Peter’s heads south on the Garden State Parkway to face Monmouth on Feb. 22.

The MAAC, which first appeared on ESPNU on Friday nights in the 2005-06 season, will enjoy its usual exposure on that night, both on ESPNU and ESPN3, in 2013-14. Five Fridays in January and February have been designated as “wildcards” with two games scheduled each night. No less than 21 days prior to the date, one game will be designated for ESPNU and the other for ESPN3. There is also 4-way “wildcard” Friday on Feb. 28, which has four league games scheduled. Of those games, one game will be designated for ESPN2 and a second contest for ESPNU.

Of the 47 game television slate, 36 will be on ESPN3, nine will be on ESPNU, one regular season game will be on ESPN2, and the men’s tournament championship game will be on either ESPN or ESPN2. There will be 33 men’s games and 14 women’s game televised by ESPN’s networks, both all-time highs for the MAAC.